Writing and Music Blog

Unpublishable #4 – Sophia and the Grand Symphony Chapter 1

Unpublishable – A series of essays, bits of bad writing and poems, and whatever else I make that doesn’t fit into a traditional writing format.

Well, folks, I present to you the first chapter of a story I started long ago ( and do not plan to revise or finish at this time). What can I say, there’s nothing wrong with the premise or ideas on display here, but the execution is just all over the place. Way back in the day, I conceived, wrote, edited and published this all in one go on a Facebook Note. I was sure that was going to be the best way to get my story seen by many.

I would like to dub this as my half-baked attempt at writing a Harry Potteresque YA novel, with the tagline “Music is Magic.”

Sophia and the Grand Symphony.

Sophia Cipriano, a red-headed young girl who has really never had a childhood. Due to her constantly moving. She is an orphan no idea whether her name was real or fake. But as she enters her teen years she is about to find an identity with which she had never dreamed existed except in children’s stories.

1.Knock Knock

Bang…Bang…Bang…Three knocks on the front door of a very ancient looking farm house. From inside a small light turned on.
From inside a groggy voice yelled out. “Just a minute!”
The voice from inside opened the door and out stepped a very peculiar dressed man. He had on a silver house coat. “who are you? You do know it’s three in the morning and it’s very cold outside.”
“Sir.” replied the man that had knocked on the door he was wearing a strange robe, he was black as the night. “Hello, Mr. Syllabus Cipriano. I am Mike Felix, I was sent here on a very expedient matter, but I can only speak of it when we are safely inside your protective house.” As he said this his head swiveled behind him as though he thought someone may have followed him.
“Alright, come in, but be quiet I have a misses and a baby both sleeping so do not disturb them,” he said this with a threatening wave of his fingers. He led the man into a small study and turned on flicked a switch. The light flickered and then a circuit breaker blew as the lights all went out.
“Hold on let me I used to be an elect…ror…ition. Where is the box?” questioned, Mike.
“Um, it’s downstairs, but sir, I mean Mr. Felix. I can’t simply let a stranger see my dusty basement please sit down. If I need any help I’ll ask for it.”
Mike shrugged and smiled, at Syllabus, like he was waiting for him to laugh at a joke.
No sooner had Syllabus opened the basement door than he heard a loud pop and the lights came back on. He turned, feeling confused, and walked back into the study.
Mike nodded in acknowledgment, “Mr. Cipriano, I am afraid I have bad news. I am sure you have heard of the infamous Brolsma?”
“You mean the man that without a second thought destroyed a tour bus full of good normal people cause one looked like someone he had a grudge against?” he questioned rhetorically.
“Yes, that’s the one. He’s guilty of that and hundreds of other equally horrible crimes.” The man swallowed thirstily. “Well, we have a list from him. It is a list containing only five names. Everyone on that list is a threat to him, except for one very strange name. S. Cipriano. Mr. Cipriano do you know a family member that first name starts with an S?”
“I know of two, one is myself as I’m sure you are aware, Syllabus, and my daughter, Symphony. But what could that evil bear want with anyone in my family?”
“We were hoping that you could fill us in on why? We need to move your family as your protection is of my biggest concern…”
Bang…Bang…Bang…another person was at the door this time a voice from upstairs yelled at the disturbance.
A very sleepy and yet still beautiful lady came downstairs. It was also obvious by her slightly reddened face that she had been eavesdropping on the conversation. She got to the door just as her husband did. The look that passed between them was one of fear, confusion, and reassurance for the other.
They opened the door and a very tall man stood in front of them. He bowed slightly to each, “Pardon me.” He smiled.
They both smiled back as they recognized their very good friend and neighbor, Mr. Briggs. “How are you!” They both exclaimed. “What are you doing here at this hour of the night.”
“I’m afraid I have bad news the C…ehm…a special agency has issued me with a mission to take your family underground while we sort out this whole Brolsma mess.” He looked uneasy with this task.
The woman turned to her husband, “Wait, what is going on? Why do we have to go underground? Is this a nasty Joke?”
“I’m sorry, Liz, but this is the second person to come to me with this news. So I think we need to hear them out. Now, why don’t you come to the back with me so you can meet our first guest, Mr. Felix?
“Mr. Felix?” Mr. Briggs mouthed like the name had a bad taste. “He wouldn’t happen to be Mike Felix?”
“Yes, That’s the one do you know him?” answered Syllabus.
“Then let’s not even go in there, he’s rumored to be with Brolsma.”
“Who is this Brolsma guy? And why are we afraid to talk to this stranger who thinks we are in danger.” Whispered Liz.
“Brolsma is the man that blew up the bus the other month.” Mr. Briggs said quickly and with disgust. “And that man, Mike Felix, he is an expert in trickery. He’ll tell you most of the truth and the rest is a pit of lies.”
“Oh…So let’s get out of here now,” she said worriedly.
Syllabus shook his head in agreement. “You go get Symphony and I will lock the door so that Mr. Felix cannot escape very easily.” He looked at Briggs for confirmation.
Briggs just shook his head and muttered, “If only you knew how ineffective a lock is against this guy.”
“How so? If he doesn’t have the keys it’ll take him a bit to break the lock.”
“Just trust me that when I say he can get out of a locked door faster than you can unlock it with that key.”
“Right, well then I’ll just go change so that we can run for it.”
“Hurry, I’ll make sure that your guest cannot escape so easily,” Briggs said as he went towards the door.
Syllabus ran upstairs both worried for his wife and daughter’s safety as well as to hurry to get away. He almost ran into Liz. “I’ve got to get this silly house coat off, and into some normal clothes.”
“I think it looks ravishing on you. Makes you look like a big ol’ sugar daddy.” She smiled devilishly at him.
“Well hopefully in the future I will be able to wear it more often, but right now you need to get Symphony ready to go.”
“Already done dear, all we have to do is put her in our kangaroo thing, put her on our back, and be gone. Now get dressed.” she scolded him quietly.
A moment later he pulled a fresh t-shirt over his head and pronounced his accomplishment of being ready. “Alright, lets get Symphony and be gone…”
SLAM!!!!
“Oh no! Where did that rat go!” Yelled Briggs from downstairs.
In the next instant, the most wonderful and yet most terrifying thing happened. A bright yellow light came from outside Symphony’s window. Then the window burst and Mike Felix was standing over their baby.”
“No!” yelled Liz. She ran at the man but he waved his hand and she was flung against the wall with a great force.
Syllabus stood shocked, Mike had not even touched his wife all he had done was wave a stick at her and sent her tumbling across the room. It dawned on him that Briggs was right when he said that this man would not be held by a mere lock. Syllabus quickly came to his senses and jumped behind his babies bed for protection just as another wave of air passed over him. He saw Mike standing over his baby talking nonsense.
Syllabus quickly jumped up and ran at Mike. He never had a chance, as soon as Syllabus took two steps he ran into a wall and no matter how hard he tried he could not get any further. He screamed, he swore, he bashed and he kicked but nothing he did would budge the wall.
He looked around in time to see Briggs motion him to step aside. Briggs then took out a stick of his own and yelled. “Dissolve!”
Mike waited for something to happen but nothing did.
“Be gone! Break!” On and on again Mike tried yelling things at the wall of air.
Mike turned to look at Briggs and laughed. “You never were good at magic. You couldn’t even fry an egg with the skill you’ve got. You are the worst excuse for a wizard I have ever seen. At least since Brolsma did with your sister and then hit you with the curse that forgets curses.”
“Shut Up! You filth, I will destroy you! “ Screamed the enraged Briggs.
Syllabus’ head was spinning with trying to make sense of things. Wizards, magic, curses, no way was any of that real and certainly, his best friend was not magical.
“This wall is no more!” Briggs screamed and then a blue light erupted from the end of his stick and shattered the wall of air.
“My, my the ol’ goat has learned how to use anger, you’re on your way to becoming like your brother.”
“No! I will never be anything like my brother.” In his rage, Briggs swung his stick and shouted a word Mike had never heard before but it filled him with dread. A black shower of lightning charged out from his tool and struck Mike fully in the chest. Mike’s body spasmed and his eyes glossed over slowly caught his breath and whispered, “spill your tongue.” a white silvery stream surrounded Mike and his eyes rolled over. “Tell me what your dark master want with Syllabus and his family?”
“He read a prophecy that the most evil will die or reign supreme when he defeats the ruler of time, the red New Year’s symphony. He probed many great minds to understand this prophecy. He came to understand that the New Year’s symphony was a baby born at exactly midnight on new years so that they were not born in a specific year and thus defeating time. There has only ever been one baby that was born exactly at midnight on New Year’s Eve. Symphony Cipriano.” The man fell silent awaiting instructions.
“I think you two had better take your baby far away from anyone, to protect yourselves and her,” Briggs said with a slight tremble in his voice. He turned to them with an unspoken apology in his eye. He couldn’t understand how this evil magic had found its way into the lives of these very unmagical and good people.
Liz cried out as she re-awoke from unconsciousness. Syllabus returned to his senses and ran to the baby but as he crossed Mike’s path he heard him whisper something and then he was tumbling out the window and falling. He would have died but somehow inexplicably the ground absorbed him like a pillow and gently bounced him as he caught his breath and tried to slow his heart from pounding out of his chest.
Out of the second story window, Mike burst through the window with Symphony tucked in his arms. Then he disappeared with a horribly evil laugh.
Mike crawled to his feet, feeling very light headed. He met Briggs and his wife Liz huddled together crying. As Mike came close a wave of reality hit him. He had let that evil man into his home and now his pride and joy, his flesh and blood were taken from him.
Briggs got to his feet and hugged his friend. “I am so sorry old friend, but know that I have my full memory back I will be able to retrieve your daughter. Elizabeth, please explain to your husband what is going on. I will keep you posted.” and then with a sucking vacuum sound Briggs was gone.
Syllabus looked at his wife, he had loved her since the day they had met, It had been at his grandmother’s when he was five, He met her down at the swimming hole. From the first moment he was forever enchanted by her, but now she looked not only beautiful but with a strength in her eye, he had not seen before.
“Syllabus, you had better sit down. I have a lot to tell you.”
“Like what?” He felt like exacting revenge not like sitting down.
“Like the fact that I am a celebrated witch, I would have told you but as soon as a witch declares her love to a nonmagical person they forget what they are. But for some reason, the spell has been lifted it was when…when…our baby was born” She started to cry.
Syllabus slowly felt the room start to revolve and it quickly picked up speed. He soon slumped over as he was overwhelmed by the onslaught of emotion and revelation.

If you have some equally cringe-worthy false starts or other such unpublishable works of art, I would love to feature it here with you.

About Stew Stunes

Stew Stunes is an American author who enjoys creating groundbreaking science fiction and beautiful fantasy stories. He has written 2 full-length Novels; The bizarre Sci-Fi adventure: “ The Writers of the Universe,” and the female-fronted dark fantasy, “ The King’s Challenge.” In addition to his writing, he also composes music to accompany his words to create an ecosystem of art and theme. Please feel free to preview his work on his blog at https://stewstunes.com/ and be on the lookout for his upcoming project STAR CX, A Serialized SciFi/Fantasy Adventure.